INTERNET.TM.now provides a network where a subscriber typically contracts with a commercial access provider (CAP) and obtains an Internet address as well as the capability to send and receive E-Mail on Internet and perform other functions which Internet supports. The subscriber typically uses his personal computer and modem to contact the commercial access provider using the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and once connected to Internet, performs the desired functions. The CAP provides an E-Mail box for the subscriber and the subscriber, when connected to the CAP, can review the contents of this electronic mailbox.
E-Mail can be transmitted to other subscribers of Internet located in a host of different countries and provides a cost effective system for transmitting data from one E-Mail subscriber to another across different E-Mail systems nationally or internationally.
E-Mail systems have been available for many years and although they provide a very cost effective alternative to facsimile transmissions, the popularity of E-Mail does not nearly approach the popularity of voice and facsimile messaging and the number of users is many times lower.
Our U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,713,837, 4,922,518, 4,942,599 and 4,969,184 disclose systems for more efficient transmission and/or retrieval of facsimile communications, which can involve the use of dedicated data transmission networks. Facsimile transmissions have been rerouted in the case of long distance transmissions to a computer which uses a data communication to provide a more effective link to another computer which then uses the public switched telephone network to phone out and complete the transmission.
Companies have examined the approaches for conducting business and, in many cases, it is now felt that certain individuals within the company require their own private facsimile address as well as a convenient mechanism for receiving voice mail. Confidentiality may also be important. Office workers have also become much more familiar with computer equipment and have become more comfortable using the computer equipment to transmit or receive certain messages or conduct searches on different electronic databases.
The present invention has recognized the need for a system of transmission and central approach for combining these different message types. The invention also allows the many millions of facsimile machines throughout the world to be more cost effectively accessible by other facsimile machines and computers and where the message type can be in addition to a traditional facsimile message.